Here's Why Bobby Shmurda Refuses to Join the Fight for Criminal Justice
“When y’all getting ready to drag a muthafucka, let me know."
Bobby Shmurda is not in a rush to join any movement.
In a recent interview with SiriusXM’s Hip Hop Nation, the 24-year-old incarcerated Brooklyn rapper shared his thoughts on Meek Mill's initiatives and the fight for prison and criminal justice reform.
READ: Meek Mill Calls for Criminal Justice Reform in Powerful New York Times Op-Ed
Mill was released from prison in 2018 and recently teamed up with JAY-Z and other big names to launch a new criminal justice reform organization called REFORM alliance. Shmurda, who is currently serving a seven-year sentence, expressed he doesn't trust the system and have very little faith in the efficacy of raising awareness and the process of seeking reform.
"I respect what he’s doing. I can’t do it though," Shmurda said. "I can talk to the kids, but I ain’t about to be sitting here protesting and politicking for no muthafuckin’ cops because them muthafuckas don’t care. They been killing muthafuckas since Rodney King. And people gotta realize this shit.”
He continued, “I love what Martin Luther King did, but I respect him because I couldn’t do it,” Shmurda explained. “Muthafuckas hitting him with rocks, doing all types of shit, and he stayed positive. I can’t do it. So, I’ll come talk to the kids. That’s about it. But I respect everything they do.”
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On the topic of whether or not he'd have a change of mind once his own situation clears up, he said, “It’s not even about me going through shit, it’s about what they been doing for years,” he explained. “This shit ain’t gonna change ’cause muthafuckas start talking about it; we gotta take action. And when muthafuckas start taking action more, that’s when I’ll get involved.
“But the talking— muthafuckas ain’t gonna listen," he added. "The muthafuckas been killing muthafuckas for how long? And it gets the same results. This shit is crazy. The most I could tell niggas is stay up outta jail.”
He then stated the type of action he'd be satisfied with participating in, joking, “When y’all getting ready to drag a muthafucka, let me know."
Shmurda was arrested in 2014 and is serving time for conspiracy and weapons possession charges. He'll be eligible for parole in 2020.
Listen to the inteview above.